Bewitching Smile: Death's Bride
by Minagi Ito
Summary: She saved me, and soon I come to learn of the world she's coming from is so different than mine and more dangerous as well. Who would've thought that meeting a woman with a betwitching smile to ended my life and entering into a world I never knew existed.
1. Chapter 1

**Bewitching Smile: Death's Bride**

_Part One_

It taken me at least a year to even walk again, hell, to learn everything all over again took me two years. But I'm alive, thanks to Fujino Shizuru, she hadn't told me how she found me and her surgeon friend just said that I was found in a puddle of blood behind an alley. I was sure as hell I wasn't, I was at the dock where Irvan shot me. That little shit is not my protégé, he's sloppy in his work and his personal life just as fucked up. But you don't fucking look a gift horse in the mouth, so I was dead to the world and the Syndicate for two long years but I doubt anyone give a damn about it. Most would dance on my grave, if I even got one that is.

For many, they sought revenge, but I was getting tired of my job. Ever since I met the woman with the bewitching smile, my view of things changed. She was patient and graceful, she helped me with my daily routine, even encouraged me to learn to walk and talk again. I was severely injured and died for at least ten minutes, which in turn damaged my brain a little. She was from out of town, yet she stayed around for two long years to help me return to normal. Normal in a sense where I can do the daily things on my own, however, I still struggled sometimes and I was told that my right hand will never regain its full range of motion because of a damaged nerve. For two years, I've come to understand the strange feelings I felt whenever that woman is around, I've come to feel pain and anguish when she isn't. If I'd known it was love, I would've walked away from my life as an Enforcer sooner, but that is only if I'd met her sooner. But I don't regret though; the path I'd walked about, the things I've done, the people I've killed, I regret none of that. I am who I am and that is all there is to it, and I will not change any of it.

"Ara, what are you thinking?" her voice cut into my train of thoughts and I looked up at her.

"How life is cheap when you watch others die, but valuable when it's your own." I replied as she sat down across from me in the kitchen of her friend's home.

"Ara, what an odd take on life, does it have anything to do with how you live your life?" she inquired and I found that I owed to her to speak the truth.

"I was…" I paused and she looked on expectantly. "…a former member of the Tokyo Syndicate, I was their Enforcer and killing people is what I do. I don't sell drugs or weapons; I kill other crime bosses and rival gangs in turf wars. Life was cheap to me, because I can take it away from them so easily. I didn't give them a chance to beg for mercy, the same when it happened to me it was sudden and that's it. The only different is that I make sure the people I killed stay dead, but it doesn't matter." I ended shaking my head to chase away the old memories of a happier time with my brother and his wife, before he becomes a narcissist.

"Ara, what will you do now? Getting revenge?" she asked after a long moment of silence between us.

"No, if they think I'm dead, then there's no reason for me to set the record straight. I just have to figure out how to live life without the drugs and violence," I answered her honestly.

"Ara, come to Kyoto with me than," she suggested as our eyes locked.

I found myself unable to tear my gaze away from hers; I was drowning within those beautiful crimson eyes. If asked whether or not I mind, I would answer that I didn't give a damn. You could say that there's a motive behind everything and this woman have a motive for staying and saving me, a thug, a gangster and a murderer and you might be right. Because your logic would be simple and I would agree, why in the hell would someone like her wasting her time on someone like me? But so what? So what if she got a motive for saving me? She saved my life, so all she had to do is say a word and I'm more than willing to give up my life for her. This isn't about being the knight in shining armor or doing the right thing, hell I'm just giving back what I owe.

"I've never been there before," I murmured more to myself than hers while I'm still lost in her eyes.

"Then it will be a nice change of scenery for you, it's fairly quiet where I live." I wondered though, her words seemed to be inviting as if she's inviting me to her home and meet her parents.

Perhaps she needed someone from the city; anyone would do to meet her parents. She seemed to be the type that has it all, maybe she wanted to use me to get out of being force into an arranged marriage. That's as far as I could think of when it comes to her motive for saving me, but maybe because I'm a simpleton or an idiot take your pick. But then why would she pick me when she could just get anyone? It gets confusing, and perhaps I am an idiot after all. My right hand might never be like it was before, and I've learned to utilize my left hand and I promise you that I can kill just as well as when my right hand wasn't fucked up. However, before I left with her to Kyoto, I made sure to pay back her surgeon friend for saving my life. Over the years, I have accumulated a good chunk of money, so I transferred most my money to fund her clinic and the remaining into her personal account.

"Ara, are you sure you're a former yakuza? You're awfully generous with Kikukawa-sensei there," she said teasingly as we boarded the train heading for Kyoto.

"She's a good person, shouldn't struggle to compete with those big hospitals that treated their patients like crap." I answered; we took really late train so there aren't many people on.

There wasn't much to talk about, and neither of us are talkers. We sat in comfort silence as the sceneries passed by in a blur, sadly it didn't last long until a group of people tore through the cart behind us and into our cart. They were all men, well-dressed but their manners aren't as much as they checked at every seat. I'm sure they're looking for someone, but by the manner they're doing it making them looking more and more like a threat to me. The problem here for me was, my gun was taken from me when I was shot and left for dead. My right hand is weak and a bit useless so even if I still have my gun I can't fucking use it anyway. On the positive note, if you can consider it to be that, I got my pocketknife on me though by the dozen of them I'm not sure how this will play out if they really become a threat.


	2. Chapter 2

_Part Two_

"Boss, I found her," the young one shouted, he looked to be no more than sixteen, too young to be a thug.

His voice becomes squeal when I kicked him in the balls, sending him away from her. I already pulled out my pocketknife and flipped the blade out, just as the others poured at me but I was prepared. Even in the confinement of the train, I was able to elbowed a few of them in the face while cutting the other few to let them know that jumping at me or the woman behind me isn't a very good idea. Some suffered from broken nose, busted lips, and a few broken teeth as others suffered from minor cuts from my pocketknife when the fight ended with them lying scattered about trying to stop the bleeding and nursing their wounds.

I snatched up the one with a goatee and pressed my knife against his cheek, "She's with me and who the fuck says you can take her?"

"Wolfgang Yuri," he swallowed hard as his eyes focused more on the blade than on me.

"Let me rephrase this again," I said lowering my voice to a dangerous level. "Do you fucking think that you can kidnap a grown woman?" I continued pressed the tip harder against his cheek until it drawn blood.

"We're sorry, please forgive us…" the one in my grasp pleaded.

"Ara, ara…" I knew she finally woke up but unsure what her reactions would be to the scene in front of her.

"We apologize for the mistake, please forgive us!" the rest of them quickly got on their knees and their head flat against the floor begging to me while apologizing to Shizuru at the same time.

"Tell the person that hired you to leave her alone and scram before I change my mind and guts you all." I said shoving him away and they quickly scattered just as the train stop at its normal stopping route.

"Ara, you don't look so well," Shizuru said as I plopped down onto my seat and put away my knife, I could see my right hand was shaking slightly.

In a moment, a delicate hand with a handkerchief was dapping and wiping away the sweats that started to form on my forehead as the adrenaline died down from the fight. She was beautiful and gentle, but after that fight I suddenly found myself questioning about her background. Reaching out with my shaky hand, I stopped her movements and pulled her down next to me.

"Does that happen often?" I asked looking at her as my hand still holds onto hers.

"Ara, not for the last four years," she replied though refusing to meet my eyes.

"Look at me," I said using my left hand to lift her chin up so that our eyes met and also to keep her from turning away from me. "Why are there people after you?"

"_They're_ after me because I'm the only child in my family," Shizuru answered and I could tell that she's holding back a lot of information that would help me to better asset the situation.

"Does wanting me to come to Kyoto was part of keeping them away?" I asked as I honestly wanted to know, not to needle her or be mean though I saw a flicker of something in her eyes before she closed them to not have to look at me.

"No, I did not know that they would come after me again after the last time…" she trailed off while keeping her eyes closed.

Our discussion was never finished when something blow a hole through the door at other end of the train, revealing a group of people with some very heavy artilleries on them. She jumped to her feet as I did the same with my knife out; I knew there would be no way in hell we will get out of this mess when all I got was a knife. We were outnumbered and outgunned, but I can't just let them get her while I'm alive. I left her side and moved quick before they could react, this time mercy wasn't shown on them as I made sure to go for the vital points until one of them knocked me off my feet.

"That's enough, you will not hurt her." I vaguely heard Shizuru raised her voice at them as I tried to pull myself up while not thinking about the flaring pain on my solar plexus.

A few popping sounds echoed throughout the empty train and all was silence again by the time I got back on my feet. Gasping for air as I tried to calm my nerves down enough so that I made my way up to her and the bodies lying about, Shizuru had effectively killed them with their own weapons though the look on her face told me that she wasn't intending on killing them. I put my pocketknife away and started to work on disposing of the bodies on a moving train, aware that she's watching me while trying to grasp the concept of what she'd just done just to save a pathetic person like me.

"Shit," I cursed when I realized that a stray bullet managed to graze my side before I was knocked off my feet.

That seemed to draw her out of her trance and within moments, she's at my side helping me to stop the bleeding. Her hand was so soft, delicate and her movements were so gentle that I stopped feeling the pain as I focused only on her touches. She apologized but I just shook my head and soon we're back to the comfort silence until our stop.

"I'm really sorry to drag you into all of this," Shizuru once more apologized.

I stopped following her and that caused her to stop and look back at me, "No reason to be sorry over that, I've been through worse and this just means that I may need to pick up some firepower."

She remained mute and looked at me as if she knew that I was going to say more, but she looked quite surprised when I grasped her hand with my own, shaky it may be. I definitely didn't want her to think that all that happened on the train was nothing but troublesome to me. Now I have a better reason to take up arms than before, and that was good enough for me.

"Shizuru, listen to me okay?" I asked and she nodded her head but never broke our eye contact.

"No matter what happen, I will not let them get to you. I promise," I finished.


	3. Chapter 3

_Part Three_

We found ourselves a hotel, one of those self-manage types where you just insert money and press a button for the keys to the room of your desire. She showered and sleep, I, on the other hand bandaged up my wounds and cleaned out a gun that I took from one of those thugs. Sleep isn't an option for me, much worst was that the adrenaline from earlier still coursing through my veins making sleep impossible. Years of being a killer made me cold but the two years that I was out turned against me, once in a while I would glanced over at the bed she's sleeping in to reassure myself that all of this is real and if what she said is true then the possibility of us being attack without warning is very real.

Kyoto was a nice place, though this isn't the time to enjoy the scenery or the foods. I know someone from here, and sure as hell would help if she haven't gotten herself kill yet for a little favor. We stayed in the hotel for most of the day, but headed out before nightfall after I told her there's someone that I wanted to see and that I wanted her to come with me. She could told me no, but she smiled that knowing smile of hers and went with me to a different part of Kyoto, a less friendly part. It took us a while but we were finally at the front of the Black Crystal Club, she moved closer to me but I surprised her by taken her hand and headed inside.

Inside, the thumping music, the thick smell of cigars and alcohol hung in the air with the large dance floor packed with your people like sardines in a can. No matter how many times I've seen it, I could never understand why anyone would want to be on such a crowded dance floor. Though undeniable to the fact that business is business, and with the place always jam-packed like this means more dough for _us_.

"You're not allow up here," a burly man said to me, he stood before me with his muscular arms crossed over his chest in an imposing manner.

"Let me guess, you just started this job…" I trailed off noticing that I do not know this person, in my two years of absent things around here changed though most of the employees here I've known since this place first opened up.

"Tell Yuuki Nao to either get her ass down here or I will come up there and you will be out of a job along with everyone in this club," I said to him firmly and calmly.

"Kyo, let them through, the boss would be very piss if she know you're giving them a hard time," a bartender called to the man.

"Come," I said tugging at Shizuru's hand pulling her up the stairs with me once the big lug in front of us moved out of the way though reluctantly.

It wasn't a kind of meeting where old friends hugged and shed tears, because when I was close enough to the table with multiple women chattering and laughing away my gun was quickly drawn a few seconds faster than the red head sitting in the middle of all the women there. She was sharp but still aren't fast enough against me. Her one weakness would be women, it was her sexual preference and it had caused her more troubles than not.

"Ladies, leave us be," the red head spoke first and at her words the women obediently left and headed for the first floor.

"Hiring new muscles?" I asked though my gun remain trained on her.

"Heard you're dead," she added after nodding her reply to my question as she put her gun away.

"The old me, need you to look into someone for me…"

"Whoa, the _Blackcat_ is in need of my help? Is the sky falling?" she cut me off with her melodramatic words.

"Don't you fuck with me Nao, I don't have time for that bullshit right now. Any other given time, I would not mind but not now. I need a favor from you, look into Wolfgang Yuri and I need some firepower. This gun is a piece of garbage," I said coldly and the small smirk disappeared from her face.

"Come with me then," Nao said as she stood up turning completely serious.

We headed down the hall and up a small hidden stairs leading up to the third floor. If you look at the building from the outside, there would be no chance in hell you would know that this place is a three stories building because it looked like a two stories building. I put my gun away as soon as we started moving away from the noises, and she fished out a key from her jacket's pocket to unlock the door as soon as we reached the third floor.

"So the old bro tap you out huh?" Nao asked closing the door behind us.

"Something like that," I replied with an added shrug.

"You don't seem too concern, finally found yourself a hottie?" Nao asked walking passed me only to turn around and give a wagging brow expression of hers.

"She saved my life," I left it hanging as there's no reason to tell Nao about the fact that yes I am in love with this woman next to me and yes she got some serious gang bangers coming after her.

"Well, that's good, have a seat and there are drinks in the fridge over there, I'll make some calls to get what you need." Nao said pointing to the small fridge sitting in a corner near the couch.

"Thanks," I nodded my head.

"No problem, your problems are my problems man." Nao said and I realized that even though I haven't seen her for over two years, she still hasn't been able to stop saying the word _man_ in most of the sentences in a conversation.

~o~

"She can undo many things, but the one thing she can't is her own sins…" the woman Mikoto called Nao said as soon as Mikoto left the room.

I was fascinated ever since the moment we met; I guess I was always drawn to the bad girl types though never any of them killed anyone. She isn't charismatic, though she has this vibe about her that no man would dare to challenge her authority. I must admit that she certainly is charming in an awkward kind of way, it doesn't seemed as though she could express herself properly and furthermore she cursed a lot though never at me. When she promised to always be there for me on the train the night before, I felt my heart skipped a beat as it was one of the most cliché yet sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me.

"Ara, her own sins?" I asked, intrigued to find out what this woman meant by that though I could guess the answer.

"Being a ruthless murderer for a half-ass half-brother," Nao replied sitting down just across from me and poured herself a glass of whiskey while I enjoyed a cup of tea that Mikoto made for me before she left.

"I used to hate the world, wanting to be tough and…" she paused for a moment taking a sip of her drink. "I needed money to pay the hospital bills; my mother was in a car accident and had been in a coma since I was thirteen. I ended up joining a local gang, you know to be tough and get some money. We extorted money, bootleg, and dealing drugs; the Tokyo Syndicate didn't like the fact that there are some punks making deals on their turf. She was sent to shake us down; we were a cocky bunch ya know? I mean, this kid come out of nowhere and told us to take a hike, she's around my age for crying out loud and the guys in the gang I'm with are usually a few years older than me. I never saw it coming man, a few popping sounds and they dropped like flies. I don't know why she didn't kill me though, she left me alive but wasn't long that I got in trouble with the law."

She paused again and I could only assumed that she was arrested for drugs possession, though the idea of a girl running in a gang with a bunch of guys is pretty hard to digest. Nao finished her drink and poured another, it seemed as though she's thinking what to say next and whatever it is she is going to say it will be important to both herself and perhaps Mikoto as well but I could only guess. I was surprised that they were friends by the way they greeted each other earlier, but Mikoto introduced her as an old friend and so I belief her words.

"I was trialed and sentenced two years on drug possession, good thing it was only a little bit or I would still be in jail." Nao said throwing her head back and laughed heartily. "Now if you think she bailed me out, she didn't but I was in jail and with no money I quickly regretted for taking the road that I took because now I can't pay the hospital bills. I was nineteen when they released me, first thing I did was rushing to see my mother but she was transferred to a private clinic with better treatment by an unknown benefactor. It's where she got the best doctors working to take care of my mother and bringing her out of her coma, and two and half years later she come out of it and now all better. I bumped into her after my mom woke up, told me to go legit and she helped me start a business. Here I am owning a legit club and no fuckers try to harass me for protection money," Nao finished draining her second glass of whiskey dried.

"But no matter how many people she saved, the numbers of people she had to kill will always remain far more than those she saved. There are things that she didn't know or perhaps doesn't remember at all, and that is the twisted childhood. I may be legit, but that doesn't mean I can't do background check and find things about that person that they themselves didn't know of." Nao said and once again she poured her glass full of alcohol.

I wanted to ask about Mikoto's past, but it wouldn't be right to know it from someone else instead of from Mikoto herself. Yet Nao's words lingered in the back of my mind, if what she said was true then perhaps Mikoto herself doesn't remember much about her actual childhood. My thoughts were cut short when the door to the office clicked open and shut again, Mikoto was back with a backpack on her back and casually tossed the car keys onto the table in front of Nao. She got this serious look on her face, but then again I've never really seen her playful side but maybe someday I will be able to see it.

"Got what you needed?" Nao asked looking up at her friend.

"Yeah, gonna need you to look after her for a few days if you don't mind," Mikoto said nodding in my direction though I noticed that ever since she returned she haven't so much as looking directly at me.

"Mom would love to have someone around, how does Okinawa sounds to you, Fujino-san?" Nao answered Mikoto's question and in the same sentence asked me about a small island just south of mainland.

"By the way, I'm going to have to ask you to get me some more of those wines, we got some rich customers that got expensive taste." Nao added and Mikoto simply just nodded her head.

"Don't drink too much," Mikoto said.

"Yeah, yeah, there's a bedroom connected to this office so you two can stay here. I'm heading back down and no one's coming up here so don't worry about making noises," Nao said as she got up and headed out though not before giving a sly grin.

I do not know if that woman was planning anything or hoping that there would be something between us, and sometimes I do wished that there was something more between us. However, my new bad girl is hopeless when it comes to the topic of romancing, I know that she's attracted to me like I am to her but sometimes it looked as though she's with me because I saved her life. I really didn't save her life, she saved herself by somehow managing to walk from wherever she was shot to our meeting place, which was at a quiet and nearly deserted park.


	4. Chapter 4

_Part Four_

"You're going after them?" I asked as soon as we entered what looked like a fancy bedroom with a large canopy bed.

"Mm," she nodded her head examining the room instead of looking at me.

"You can't, you're just one person Mikoto, you can't take on the mafia…" I caught myself but it was too late, I had already let it slipped from my tongue.

"I can and I will," she replied defiantly finally looking at me with her fierce golden eyes.

"I am willing to lose my soul if it means I can ensure that those attempting to harm you will never get the chance to do so," she said firmly and I felt her shaky right hand brushing ever so gently against my cheek.

I can still recall the day when she was covered in blood like it was yesterday, but with time she recovered only her right hand could never be like it was before the incident though. I couldn't help but relish the sensation of her callused hand against my skin, her thumb lightly brushed against my lips. It's moment like this that made it almost looked like we're about to share something romantic, but I'd learned not to expect too much from someone who never so much as having a relationship of any kind in her life.

"I will come back to you, I promise." Mikoto said with a small smile on her lips.

We shared the bed that night, but when I woke up in the morning she was already gone. It was only sometimes after a nice morning breakfast did Nao told me that Mikoto left a few hours after she came back. Once we were finished with breakfast, Nao took me to a private jet and headed to Okinawa along with me leaving her business behind. My parents hardly ever left work for long, yet this red head woman seemed to not have a care on how her business is and leaving it whenever she felt like it. I cannot deny that I am grateful to her for agreeing to look after me even though she doesn't have to.

~o~

"Drop your weapon," a loud voice echoed down the empty alley of the darker side of Moscow.

I couldn't help but give the whimpering guy at my feet a few more shots before dropping the gun from my hand and turned around. The handcuff didn't even get near me when snatched it and cuffed the woman on the other side of the flashlight. Picking up the flashlight, I shone it at the woman and quickly moved out of the way as she attempted to body slam me. Instead I pressed my elbow on her back to keep her pressed up against the wall.

"You're not part of the Wolfgang's thugs," I said checking the woman's neck.

"Of course not you idiot! I'm taking them down," the woman replied sounding rather pissed.

I had to laugh at that, "They got their influences everywhere; you can't bring them down as long as you live. Best you give up and get away from this damn place, find yourself a spouse and live out your life instead of keeping at the Wolfgang until you get kill over it."

"You… don't know shit…" the woman growled.

"You're right…" I leaned in and whispered to her ear. "I don't know what you go through, but I'm sure that Wolfgang Yuri going to peed in his pants when he sees me again. So come along now," I added pulling the woman away and shoving her out of the alley.

I found her car and shoved her in the back; from her driver license I found her house with no problem. It was an empty house, as empty as my old apartment before I met Shizuru. I had to shake my head; thinking about that woman now will only hinder my plan. At the same time, I felt something odd for this tousle blonde woman, a hint of pity maybe? She was like me; the only differences between us would be she wanted to put monsters like me away while I kill for a living.

"You really need a girlfriend," I commented and she only grunted in reply.

"If you want to take him down, leave the police force and get yourself some heavy firepower. I don't intend on waiting for the police to come and arrest him, because I fucking wanted him dead, as dead as possible." I said making some hot tea for both of us.

"Sounds like you got a personal grudge on him," the blonde woman said.

"Let's just say that people don't live long when they mess with me, and he's pissing me off by going after the person I've sworn to protect. You should know since he killed your entire family," I said, it wasn't hard to find out about her past once I got her name.

"Shut up!" she roared standing up and ready to flip the table on me but stopped when I had her gun aimed at her forehead.

"To be honest, I could just kill you right now. However, you seemed pretty determined to take Yuri down, why not join up and actually achieve your goal? I am going to kill him either way," I offered her a solution.

So we teamed up, she left the force and got herself some black market artilleries. She seek justice while I seek revenge, though she hesitated to kill at first but changed her mind when they started to shoot at her. We had bulletproof vests, but it won't stop the pain when the bullet make impact with the vests, though I didn't have time to care about the pain. Broke through all the securities, killed all the goons and placed a lot of explosives around the villa the Boss himself live in and probably still soundly asleep in one of his many soundproof rooms.

"Wake up Yuri," I said pouring a glass of cold water over the chubby man sleeping in a silk cover waterbed.

"Who the hell are you?" the man asked with a startled look on his face.

"Black cat or have you forgotten? Now tell me why are you sending your goons after Fujino Shizuru?" I asked him calmly watching realizing hit him and panic set in.

"I'm informed that she was the witness of my son's trial," he tried his best to stay tough.

"Your son? He's been dead for four years, got dropped by some local gang in the Bronx. Now who give you the information?" I asked as I felt myself slowly loosing patient with him.

"A… a man in white suit and goatee, claiming to be a cartel in business with my son." Yuri replied writhing with panic seeping from his voice.

"Name Yuri, I need a name…" I said leaning close to his ears.

"Kinta… that's it! It's Kinta Fuji…" Armitage Haruka didn't let him finish his answer as she let her combat knife sank into his fat neck.

"You have five minutes to clear out or be bury here with him and his goons," I said coldly, finally grasping onto what's going on.

I've only been gone for just four months, and I eliminate the threats yet I still couldn't shake the feeling that something isn't right. Upon my return to Japan, I was greeted by the doctor that had saved my life: Kikukawa Yukino, she told me that she's taking a vacation and heard about my return. Her plan was to pick me up and headed to Kyoto, where she will be meeting up with Shizuru as they've been keeping in touch the whole time.


	5. Chapter 5

_Part Five_

"There, that should staved off the hunger, but the longer you stay _here_ the stronger the urge will become. Tonight is the blood moon night," Yukino-sensei said after she emptied a syringe full of fresh blood into my arm.

"Ara, thank you but you know how much I enjoy being _here_, more so now that she's by my side again. I was… getting lonely…" I trailed off suggesting that on more than one occasions I caught myself wanting to find an innocent girl and take her to bed with me.

"I've told her to stay clear from you tonight, so try and control yourself. I'm summoned by His Lordship," Yukino-sensei said and packed up her medical bag and headed out, stopping short to say something to Mikoto before actually leaving.

"We need to talk," Mikoto said as soon as she locked the door of our small but comfortable apartment.

"Ara, you should get some rest," I said keeping my words to Yukino-sensei.

"I'm fine," she said dismissively. "Look, your father was the reason behind Wolfgang Yuri's attempt in kidnapping you," she added and I had to pretend to be shocked at the news.

"Ara… I… I don't know what to think… or say…" I said though I'm more worried about the moon slowly raising outside our windows, even though the shot took the edge off slightly the hunger is still there and it's growing stronger as the moon outside slowly turned into a shade of red like the color of my eyes.

"Tell me the truth, tell me who you really are…" she said holding my chin so that I couldn't avert my gaze from her, truly she's very sharp for someone like her.

"Do you love me?" I asked, there's no time for me to be elegant or sensual, time isn't on my side tonight.

"What?" she sounded shock and her eyes are as wide as possible.

"Do you _love_ me?" I repeated my question feeling the burning sensation rising rapidly within me.

"I… do…" she answered but she didn't look at me, instead I think she found the coffee table to be more interesting as she let her hand clasped together on her lap.

"Will you still love me regardless of my appearance?" I pushed as I fought to hold onto what little self control I have left.

"…yeah…" there was slight hesitant in her voice, confusion because of my question and I have to wondered if she truly understand the affect of her answer on me.

~o~

Something cool touched me, pulling me out of my inner thoughts. I was shocked and would've screamed like a girl if I was that kind of person, under the artificial lights a reptile body coiled itself around me with scales large and shiny in the honey-wheat color. I took in a deep breath and looked up the body leading to a human torso and the lovely face that belonged to the woman with the bewitching smile. So, this is what she meant by regardless of her appearance, I've seen many strange things but this was most surprising. Then again, it was probably my fault, as I didn't really heed Dr. Yukino's warning about staying clear from her.

"…fuck… can't breathe…" I cursed feeling myself getting dizzy suddenly.

"I'm sorry…" she quickly apologized and let go of me by slithering away from me.

I had to catch my breath and chased after her, leaping over the table and nearly tripping over the damn carpet to get in front of her. "Where do you think… you're going?"

"I…" she couldn't meet my gaze.

"For the longest time, I was never at home even with my family. When I met you, you stirred something within me. I am happy when I'm with you, yet I'm confused and it made my chest hurt. Then I realized that I'm whole, I'm complete and I'm falling for the woman with a bewitching smile: you." I explained as best as I could, after all I was no poet and I leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

"I'm so happy…" she whispered before deepen the kiss, and when we parted she was back to normal.

I pulled the ring on my right hand out, and took her left hand slipping the ring onto her ring finger and got down on one knee. "Marry me."

Fumi had taught me that a woman liked to be asked for her hand in marriage, and it should be asked before taking a woman to bed. Though taking Shizuru to bed isn't a priority to me, I felt as though that I should claim her as mine before it is too late. It's one of those guts feeling that I couldn't explain, but I know that I don't deserve her when I spent much of my life walking on corpses.

I yelped when she picked me up like I was a blushing bride and said to me, "Ara, then I shall stake my claim of you now that you've finally popped the question."

~o~

Perhaps she's just what I needed in my life, but I was glad that she finally thought about marriage. I placed her down on the bed and straddled her, and she looked up at me with curious eyes with a hint of trepidation. Tonight will be the first time I will fully consummate myself with a mortal woman under the blood moon, in the past I've never slept with a woman during such a night. But Mikoto isn't like other women, her hands tainted with the scent of blood yet she managed to stay innocent even though her childhood had been robbed from her the moment she learned how to walk.

I made love to her, and I must say she's a fast learner. She got me seeing stars; this girl really could satisfy my sexual hunger. In the heat of the moment, I broke her skin and tasted her blood. It tasted like sweet honey, so warm and sweet that I had to remind myself that it would be wise for me not to take more than I need from her. She didn't seem to mind though, and doesn't seem to mind that my body changes as we continued with our debauchery activities. I knew I was changing, and soon I must return to my home to accept my duty now that I'm fully matured into my true self: Death. She will be coming with me, as I wore the ring she gave to me and we will be wed and she will be my bride though I do not mind if she wore the pants because it's all the more fun for me to remove it later on.

"Mm… what are you thinking about?" I asked feeling her hand caressing my bare shoulder as she spooned me and her breathe tickling my neck.

"Why hadn't I met you sooner," she replied thoughtfully before kissing my skin lightly.

"You would be underage," I purred my reply as I felt her hand slipped around my waist pulled me closer to her.

I was in the shower when I heard a crashing sound in the living room, and I quickly turned off the water and grabbed the towel sensing something might be wrong with Mikoto. When I came out to the living room, I found her collapsing near our bedroom with a pair of marvelous black leathery wings. It was shocking for me because from what I know, my mortal lover and soon to-be bride shouldn't be able to transform like I am. Yet here lay my unconscious fiancé, still looking like herself with the exception of the pair of leathery wings on her back.

~o~

Whether he liked it or not, Fujino Kinta has finally located his daughter via Haruka, one of his best lieutenant. He knew his daughter enjoyed playing with the humans, though he was shocked when he found out that his daughter had decided to consummate with a human on the night of the blood moon that will bind them together for all eternity. Now, Kinta grudgingly allowed the wedding to took place, though he planned to punish the young demon for helping his daughter hiding from him until Haruka asked him to pardon her and so did his daughter. It wasn't until he finally met his new daughter-in-law that he noticed that girl is part demon, and by sleeping with his daughter, whatever small amount of demon blood in her was unlocked.

Kinta's wife: Fujino Shizuka on the other hand was pleased with the outcome, the wife of the Lord of the Underworld is happy that their only child found happiness and finally reaching maturity. Finally, she could start training her daughter to become the next Shinigami and her daughter-in-law will be there as the girl's support and pillar. She never had anyone to share her burden with, but her daughter will have someone there for her and perhaps help her in reaping souls.

The wedding was of a simple ceremony, an exchange of blood between them, which is something Mikoto found to be really weird. She adapted well, and her right hand healed though she will spend much of her times with Shizuru in the Underworld from now on. Her ability to cope with the fact that she's part demon and married to none other than the new Grim Reaper, who happened to be the daughter of the previous Shinigami and the ruler of Hell. However, that didn't stop Shizuru from talking her wife into going into the mortal world and visiting Nao and her mother every now and then. Shizuru generally handles the natural deaths or less violent ones while Mikoto handles the very violent deaths. When it comes to reaping souls, Mikoto is even more ruthless than when she was the Enforcer.


End file.
